Birds, as any dino-mad child will know, are the closest living animals to dinosaurs. The Natural History Museum’s summer family blockbuster starts at the very beginning and has plenty to engage mini paleontologists. See the similarities between the skeletons of an emu and a hypsilophodon, look at 70 million year old wonderchicken. Learn how our feathered friends survived the mass extinction that did it for the dinosaurs.
The main body of the show looks at how birds have learnt (and continue to learn) to adapt to life on earth in the face of their two biggest threats, humans and climate. There are some fascinating specimens from the museum’s enormous collection, combined with some brilliant whizzy tech. So you can look at a preserved tree snake in its glass jar and then see the CT scan next to it showing the clutch of birds eggs preserved in its stomach. A taxidermy palm cockatoo is magnificently stuffed in front of a video of him in the wild, showing off his drumming tooting mating ritual.
There is a well-balanced mix of interactive displays. You can feel the different beaks, smell the chemicals released by fish oil that guide shearwaters across the sea, feel the beat of a hummingbird’s heart, take a test to see if the sounds you hear are real or imitation – the lyrebird does an excellent car alarm!
There is a suitable amount of yuck too, vampire finches in the Galapagos, carrion crows pulling out the livers from toxic frogs.
The last part of the exhibition focusses on environmental issues and conservation and children will respond to the ‘Take Action’ suggestions of what they can do to make a difference.
All in all, a fab show that manages the tricky balancing act between appealing to little ones while also having enough to engage older children and adults.
Birds: Brilliant and Bizarre Natural History Museum 25 May–5 Jan 2025. Tickets: £16.50 ages 17+, £9.95 ages 4–16, U4s free.
Emily Turner
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